Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Following the interview we posted with José Luís Alcoba, project manager responsible for implementing Zyncro in the Fiesta Hotel Group, and as part of our series of interviews with companies that have already successfully implemented an Enterprise Social Network, today we would like to share with you the interview with Josep Miquel Piqué, managing director of 22@Barcelona, Barcelona’s Innovation District. Josep shares his experience of Zyncro within the organization, and his opinion on the need for tools that allow us to more efficiently manage the flow of live work information in order to increase the productivity of companies.
Barcelona has several of the best business schools in the world and a long tradition in innovation. What do you think it still needs to do to improve competitiveness in companies?
One of my key missions is to promote innovation within the 22@Barcelona district. We can say that Barcelona has already created an “ecology” of innovation. It’s a reality and it is working. There are research institutes, technology centers, new entrepreneurs, leading institutions, investors, etc. Within the field of information management, especially internal information, I’d say that efficiency is the key. At times we can be very efficient but not very effective. We can use resources well, but spend too much time managing them. This is my main criticism of traditional intranet systems, as they are not flexible.
To achieve more efficient management, what tools do you believe are necessary?
In order to be efficient, you need to be able to access information easily, manage it and deliver it fast. That is productivity. Essentially, technology, talent and funding are the bases of productivity. Information systems need to enable you to first compile information, then process and share the work, and finally deliver this information to third parties, all done in a fast and efficient manner (with all the required security and confidentiality). Platforms like Zyncro help you to structure and manage this information, not just in repositories and reports, but the entire working process, the actual working documents. That is vital!
How did the need to use an enterprise social network like Zyncro arise in the 22@Barcelona district?
Our initial catalyst came from the need to carry out an inter-disciplinary, inter-departmental, and inter-organizational project in Barcelona City Council; the Global Clean Energy Forum project, which took place in October 2011 in Barcelona. The event was led by the International Herald Tribune, but was organized in cooperation with the city of Barcelona. The mayor and other representatives from the city council needed to be involved and we had to coordinate the action.
How did you reach the decision that the tool that met all those needs was an enterprise social network like Zyncro?
We needed to openly share documents in different formats (presentations, spreadsheets, texts, etc.). The team was organized around the project, and involved people several different departments in the city council, as well as several different organizations and external providers. Therefore, we needed to be able to share information easily with people outside the city council.
The information systems we had up to that point were too rigid. They didn’t allow us to do all this easily, as you could only share information with people from the same department. When you work on an inter-organizational project, you need a more flexible tool. Besides, we needed to be able to share this information with people who were not directly involved in the project but who needed to be kept up to date on its progress. Zyncro enabled us to easily create a Zlink that gave them access to the project documentation.
We also needed to communicate and be able to work from anywhere, when traveling, in a meeting, etc. This meant that the platform had to be cloud-based. With a tool like Zyncro, you solve the need to share information by giving controlled access to external users and to provide access from anywhere in a single solution. This could only be resolved with a cloud-based tool.
What scope did Zyncro have in the project’s development?
It was used in all stages of the project: definition, work, preparation and organization phases, and finally in the delivery and report stages. It was established as a basic communication tool for the project director from the outset by including it in the project methodology, and hence it was adopted by the entire team. The project leader needed to be convinced that this type of tool was a resource that would enable the team to be extremely efficient and productive.
After this experience, how would you sum up the impact that Zyncro has had on the project’s results?
We can say that the Global Clean Energy Forum organized by the International Herald Tribune was hosted in Barcelona thanks to Zyncro. It proved to be an efficient collaborative work tool for solving the challenge of the project having a set date and time.
How has the use of Zyncro evolved in your organization after that initial experience?
That project represented a pilot for us. Now we are working regularly with Zyncro on other projects. The main benefit we have found is being able to work as a team more efficiently and openly, from any environment. Everyone can access the information, even from smartphones.
For most companies, what is the main benefit of Zyncro in terms of productivity?
In our case, the benefit is two-fold. As I said before, there are other relatively open internal communication tools, but they are complex in terms of managing user authentication. The problem is we often need to include new users flexibly within the organization and also external users. In addition, we need to be able to give those external users access to specific once-off information, without having to register them on the system, all in a secure, easy manner.
Another of the things that attracted me about Zyncro is its feature for downloading the latest documentation on the cloud at any given time. It’s like a snapshot of your entire work documents.
How about your company? How is information managed and structured? How do you work as a group? If you would like to improve information management, productivity and collaborative work, now is the time to implement an Enterprise Social Network. Try Zyncro for free!
The jury of the 
